


What I like about you

by yaboiCelsius



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, Camping, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Homophobia, Misgendering, Sleepovers, Swearing, The Dai Li (Avatar), Transphobia, sorta - Freeform, swords are gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28266414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaboiCelsius/pseuds/yaboiCelsius
Summary: This was written for my boyfriend as an early Christmas gift.The idea was mostly his, and I added some creative freedom.This story features myself (Celsius) and my amazing boyfriend (Mark)Aang is not the Avatar, the Avatar has not been found after nearly seventeen years. The Gaang attends high school together with all the ups and downs that come with it. There's a few crazy teachers, a classic bully, and one day, there are two exchange students that hang out with the Gaang. One of them catches Celsius' eye.(I promise it's good I am not good at this summary.)
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Jeong Jeong/Piandao (Avatar), Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Nonbinary Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	What I like about you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yaboiChor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaboiChor/gifts).



(so my boyfriend is currently making an ao3 account, so i offered to gift him a work, and he suggested i could be the avatar in a modern AU) 

What i like about you  
As I spun around the room, I felt my foot slipping away under me.  
You hold me tight

Ungraciously, I fell against my dresser. The floor creaked in protest as I let myself fall to the floor.  
When you go up, down, jump around

The cool material of the light wooden floor cooled my arms as I let them droop.  
Tryn’a come over tonight, yeah

I’d been trying to stop dancing and get distracted, but I always had a hard time concentrating. My homework sat almost untouched across the room from me on my desk. It seemed to almost mock me; “Your test is coming up and you’re dancing like an idiot”  
Keep on whispering in my ear, tell me all the things that i wanna hear

My body felt hot, and sweat dripped down my shirt. Being hot always was a problem for my family of firebenders. A small breath escaped and formed a small crackling fire, which extinguished almost immediately.  
Cause it’s true, that’s what i like about you 

I took my headphones off, my ears cooled when the sweat that had formed touched the air. It was eerily quiet, and I let my headphones fall to the floor. Soft music still played from it, but any words were unintelligible. 

Pushing myself up from my floor, I walked over to my desk, tossing my headphones aside on my bed. My homework wasn’t gonna make itself after all. Leaning over my desk, I opened my window, and the cool evening air blew into my room. Gathering my candle, I lit the wick between two fingers and put it in front of the window.  
My fascination with fire started when I was eight and learned how to make a campfire for the first time. That was the same week I found out I could firebend. I was a late firebender, and my parents were worried I wouldn't be able to firebend at all.  
The candle flickered. My pen clicked.  
When it was dark out, my senses seemed heightened. Sounds seemed to become louder, and it made me feel like I was the only one awake. I looked down at the paper, and held my breath.  
One  
Two  
Three  
I managed to read one question and finish it while holding my breath. I gasped and air filled my lungs again.  
I also had a fascination with air, as I did with fire, water and nature. Humans on average can survive two minutes without air, airbenders can make that up to five times. Waterbenders can go a week longer without water than anyone else. And Earthbenders can let themselves fall for days through the earth.  
You could say people who can’t bend at all are pitied, but that is hardly the case. The world is designed for their needs, and being a bender is an extra little something. 

My phone buzzed, and shook me out of my stupor. The screen lit up, and my news app informed me that the frantic search for the Avatar continued. The climate change debate was toxic, and the next Avatar needed to be there and have a say in the negotiations about the reshape of the agreement.  
I simply sighed and put my phone away.  
You’d think that I'd eliminate all distractions. I would be able to study, but then you have too much faith in me.  
I am a distraction, and I will not stop going off track ever in my life.  
My friends trying to reach me certainly didn’t help.  
My phone began ringing. A call came in from the group chat. Resigned to my fate of failing my classes, I picked up.  
“Cels! Did you hear they found the Avatar?” Katara practically shouting into my ear, as Toph came online.  
“No, it was another fake.” At that, Aang sighed. “Well i-” He was cut off by Zuko.  
“It was someone from the Earth kingdom, and the next Avatar comes from the Fire Nation.”  
“THANK YOU FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT!” Sokka shouted.  
“I heard they are going to test everyone born at the same time as the Avatar is supposed to be born in the Fire Nation.” Aang cut in. Well, that would certainly be interesting.  
“They are sending everyone letters aren’t they? To come in for testing?” I heard about that, news travels fast these days.  
“Guys it’s one am. Can’t this wait?” A few shouts of protest erupted.  
The red button went dark as I pressed to hang up.  
I’d be lying if i said i didn’t dream about it. Everyone with my birthday wants to be the next Avatar, but the chances of me being it were slim, considering there are 24 hours in a day, 1440 minutes in an hour and 86400 seconds in a day, and no one knows when the last Avatar exactly died, as we only know that he was seen alive in the morning, and dead before midnight.  
But at least we keep track of every Fire Nation child born every day. Because that should help our chances. 

I put my phone down finally, sighing in frustration. The test was coming up, and my concentration levels were so small you wouldn’t have been able to see them with a microscope.  
I reached across my desk to grab my plant, a succulent I had lovingly dubbed Vincent.  
Vincent was a present from Aang for my last birthday. And even though I hardly have a green thumb, it survived. 

Vincent was my second favourite plant, my favourite being a venus fly trap I named Hannibal Lecter, for obvious reasons. 

I swept my books aside and focused on the plant in front of me. How the water trickled down in the glass pot, the thick leaves, and dark, cool soil especially.  
Nothing.  
I supposed I would have to move, firebending used movement as well. 

I swept my hand up through the air, focusing on the soil.  
Nothing. Of course.  
It wouldn’t do anything to me anyway, I packed my stuff up and I laid down in bed, covering myself up to my shoulders. Before I knew it, I was sound asleep. 

~the next day or sumn idk whats a time skip….i’m at school here, how did i get there? Give me a break~ 

As the rain outside kept falling, I scanned the room for my friends. Zuko shouldn’t be too hard to spot. Soon enough I spotted his scarred side.  
He was abused by his father, his sister having to go into a mental institution through his actions, and Zuko had a lasting scar from the abusive firebender. He and his sister were placed into the care of their uncle and his son, who was on a mission of peace in the military. His uncle worked in a café, specialising in tea.  
Luckily his father was under strict surveillance, and unable to get into contact with his children. His wife had run away to protect her kids, and still wasn’t found. Zuko kept hope though.  
I sat down, and noticed a new girl, by the looks of it a transfer.  
She smiled brightly at me. 

“Suki, nice to meet you!” Extending a hand across the table, I tentatively shook hers.  
“Celsius, nice to meet you too.” I tried to give her my best smile, social interaction hasn’t been my strong suit in a while, especially when I felt like I was going to mess up a conversation or when it was unexpected. This was definitely the latter.  
“I’m a transfer.” I knew it. “My friend and I are visiting for about a season. We are from the Earth kingdom.”  
She looked the part for sure, grey eyes and a short hairdo. She then motioned towards a taller figure standing not far from the table. He seemed a little awkward, clutching the strap of his backpack with two hands and fiddling with it. One could describe him as lanky, even. He wore glasses, and when he gave an awkward smile, it revealed he had braces, too.  
“Mark, nice to meet you.” He took my hand. I would have replied right away, had it not for me staring at him.  
He was pretty.  
“Uh, Celsius...they/them...nice to meet you too.” I could punch myself in the head right after opening my mouth.  
Someone from behind a pillar waved in our direction, and Suki wormed herself away from between my friends.  
She took Mark by the arm and waved at us, while my friends let out a small chorus of goodbye’s.  
“Suki seems nice.” Katara commented, elbowing her brother.  
“No idea what you are talking about.” Sokka slapped his sister’s hand away, and turned to Aang.  
“But i know what you mean.” He flashed a sly grin and wink Aang’s way.  
“Don’t you agree, my future brother-in-law?” Aang turned red.  
“Uhh...no?” He gave us his most innocent smile.  
“I wonder if she’s an earthbender!” Toph cut in, with her mouthful of spring rolls.  
“Probably not, Jeong Jeong only mentioned one transfer student that is a bender when he came over.” Zuko helpfully supplied.  
Jeong Jeong was an old friend of Iroh, Zuko’s uncle. He often came over for tea with his husband, and they would discuss anything from politics to the making of bread over a few games of Pai Sho.  
“Well, who is it then?” Toph seemed impatient, probably hoping for another Earthbender in the school.  
“I think it was the Mark guy.” Zuko shrugged.  
“He is an Earthbender?” Katara turned to where the two students were now talking to a teacher, Sokka’s fake granddad -at least that’s what he said-.  
“No, I think he is a waterbender.” Katara made her voice heard. “I don’t know, but i don’t get the earthbending vibes from him.”  
“You’re getting vibes from him?” Aang seemed confused. Katara just nodded.  
“Yes, like gran gran.”  
“Gran gran is an earthbender???!!!” Sokka slammed his hands flat on the table.  
“No, I meant- nevermind.” Katara hid her disappointed face in her palm.  
“Well?” Zuko turned to look at me. i wish i wasn’t in the middle of eating my nutella sandwich.  
“Wha?” I tried to keep my mouth closed but damn…  
“What do you think?” Sokka tried to get out of me, waving his hand to try and get me to explain further.  
“Another waterbender in school would be cool for Katara.” I thought sometimes Toph, Aang and Katara got lonely. I had other firebenders around, they didn’t really have anyone with their element at school. Or in their life, when it came to Katara and Aang. 

The rest of the break went by really quickly, I changed topics to the theory of who pranked Pakku by having him spill paint all over his desk.  
Our next class was history with Bumi, someone we all liked. Plus, it was the only class we all had together besides art.  
We walked to our class in relative order, though that would not have been said by anyone looking at us, our definition of order was a little looser than most people’s.  
Bumi was also a friend of Iroh’s, and therefore knew Zuko and Aang really well, so he was more likely to let anything we did slide.  
The downside to history class is that Jet also took history, and no one liked Jet.  
Or more precise, Jet didn’t like us. I think he thought that everyone thought of him as an annoying but lovable poltergeist, like Pippin in the birthday scene in Lord of the Rings, or Peeves in Harry Potter. Truth is, everyone thought he was a bully. He wasn’t a bender, and Zuko even held the theory he was just jealous of benders, because he kept trying to make people use their bending somehow.  
He also kept throwing things at people, and especially us. He seemed to have a thing for Katara, she dated him for a short while and he wasn’t over it at all.  
Honestly, i still have no idea what she even saw in him.  
Hopefully he would lay low today, with the new transfers probably not used to him, he always tried to make a good impression of an all-round cool guy.  
As I sat down in my unofficial designated seat, I felt Jet’s eyes on me.  
Not gonna be a fun class, got it.  
Sokka and I only had this class together, so during history we always sat next to each other. 

“Just ignore him, don’t give him anything okay?” He whispered in my ear. I could smell the tuna sandwich he had for lunch and almost gagged. I elbowed his side.  
“Sokka, ew!” I whispered back. “Tuna, really? Gross.” He grinned back at me.  
“You’re welcome! At least one of us has working tastebuds.” He slapped my upper arm with the backside of his hand.  
“Not with the amount you eat, i’m surprised your mouth can still chew.” Sokka opened his mouth to come up with a witty comeback, but Bumi cleared his throat, getting the attention of everyone and effectively ending any chatter.  
“Today we are going to talk about the industrial revolution in the Fire Nation. I will need some students to act out what happened, let’s see if you did your homework.” He started pacing between the tables, picking students from their seats.  
After a few minutes, a small group stood in front of the class. Zuko, who would be playing firelord, based on the sceptre he was given. Sokka, who had to play his gay lover. Mark, who had to play the water tribe. Jet, who had to play the army, and myself, asked to play an inventor.  
Bumi had given us all a small prop, indicating our characters.  
“Down you filthy tirant!” Jet yelled, but he didn’t move. He was hardly a good actor. He reminded me most of a little stickman, where you don’t move your back, and speak like a badly edited recording.  
“I shan’t! The people need me!” Zuko was better, though that was a low bar to hit.  
“My love! Fear not I shall protect you!” Sokka clasped his hands around Zuko’s neck, and hung dramatically. Now that was passionate acting.  
Mark seemed a little confused by what we were doing, but then again, he had never had Bumi as a teacher before. He got nudged in the back by Bumi, who whispered something in his ear, probably feeding him a line.  
“Uh...Let us settle this! We have to exist peacefully!” He was obviously shy, and stole a glance at Suki, who gave a thumbs up.  
Jet continued, “We refuse to work like this!” He waved his cardboard sword around, storming towards Zuko and Sokka. The lamley slapped in their direction, and Sokka dramatically caught the blow. Falling to the ground and wailing in fake pain.  
“My love! Live for me!” He then closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out to symbolise his death.  
“You traitor!” Zuko held his head up high, pointing towards Jet.  
“You have murdered the light of my life!” Katara sniggered. “you shan’t have peace!”  
Mark was pushed forward by Bumi, and hastily delivered his lines.  
“You must have peace, or the Fire nation shall rip itself apart!”  
My time to shine, or not, considering I can't act.  
“May I offer a solution my Lord?” I wringed my hands together, and bowed. Zuko broke through his character, but you could only pick it up if you knew him well. There was a certain gleam in his eyes when he thought someone was doing a good job and he felt proud. I’d seen him give the same look to Sokka.  
“Certainly, what do you suggest, old friend?” He made a wide motion with his hand.  
“We could lighten their work, by using fire to create power.” I stepped up, and motioned up with the word ‘power’. Zuko nodded.  
“So shall it be, and we shall call it Amon, after my dead lover, who died to give us this power to be.” Toph snorted. Bumi began clapping.  
“Wonderful, wonderful! Sokka, such passion! Jet, could be better. Celsius, nice touch! Zuko, great performance! Good improvisation! Mark, you adapted perfectly!  
The whole glass gave some halfhearted claps, except for Suki, who clapped so fast her hands weren’t visible anymore, smiling at Mark, who gave a weak smile back.  
We all put our props down, and returned to our seats. Jet pushed me aside making his way back to his friends. Well, at least he let everyone else be.  
“Okay, now we do the boring part, because homework is mandatory. Did you all do the question I assigned you?” Everyone held up their notebook, showing their work.  
Bumi nodded and allowed everyone to do as they wished. He wrote the homework for next time on the whiteboard so people could start on it already, and sat down with a comic book. I turned to Sokka, but something hitting my head caught my attention. Jet again. He wasn’t aiming at me, because he raised his eyebrows when I looked at him with my best deathglare. Turning around, I saw the people he must be aiming at, the transfer students. 

“Jet would you cut that out?!” My voice wasn’t particularly loud, so it stayed under the lever of noise around us. “Can’t you keep your attention on yourself and your friends for more than ten seconds?” I whispered loudly. Jet simply shrugged, and kept throwing paper balls at the new kids. One of them hit Mark, and he hunched his shoulders inwards, trying to ignore Jet. I could feel the anger boiling in me. Jet was nothing more than a no good scumbag, who had an ego too big for his pants and the attention span of a mayfly.  
“I said cut that out!” I let a little puff of smoke out of my lips while whispering, and it blew into Jet’s face. My hands went red hot, as they often did while I was mad. Sokka came through my radar softly, but he didn’t touch me. He knew firebenders sometimes didn’t have their emotions under control and they would become hot or make fires around them bigger. Jet threw another ball of paper, and that was the last drop. I raised my hand, and the ball went still in the air. It didn’t burst into flames, like i thought it would, but instead turned around and smacked full speed into Jet’s face. That’s not firebending...that’s airbending was the thought flashing in my head before Mark spoke “You’re an airbender?” 

I would have said the silence was deafening, if i could hear anything beside the ringing in my ears.  
“No, that was me!” Aang raised his hand. “Sorry.” He smiled brightly and everybody went back to their conversations. Aang was an airbender and everyone knew, so no big deal. Jet luckily did stop, so I could concentrate on what in the fresh tiddy just happened.  
After the bell rang, Aang gripped my arm and dragged me aside, tucking the arm he was holding away under my backpack, he discreetly maneuvered me to a quiet corner.  
“That wasn’t me.” he hissed. My mind spun. I didn’t think it was him, it felt like i was bending, but i’d hidden behind Aang’s confession to calm myself down.  
“You can airbend.” He gritted his teeth.  
“So you’re the Avatar?” We hadn’t noticed Zuko creeping up behind us, having an abusive parent will teach you to be quiet. I slowly nodded as an answer.  
“Where do i go? What do i do?” I could feel my lungs burning, and my vision went whiter as I began to hyperventilate. I didn’t notice slipping down a wall, but when I slowly became calmer, Katara was rubbing my wrist with her thumb, and Bumi was standing over me. My friends were standing around me, shielding me from the other students while I was panicking.  
“So, you’re the Avatar huh?” Bumi began. I nodded again.  
“I can help you. For now, go home. You’ve had quite a day. I expect you in the training rin after school though.” He patted my head and walked away. I felt myself calm down a bit. Pushing up from the ground, I got to standing again, and nodded to my friends.  
“He’s right, I'm going to go home, i’ll see you after school okay?” The last statement was mostly towards Zuko, we always trained our firebending on tuesdays.  
He patted me on the back, and smiled.  
“I think Aang should be there too today.” I swallowed, and turned to Aang, a bubbly, nervous and sickening feeling settling in my stomach.  
“We don’t have to yet, but i’ll be there just in case.” He gave me a bright smile and half hugged me.

~~whoo another time skip and certainly not because i still don’t know how i got to school, or back~~

There was some noise from inside the Arena, as all the students called it. It was a safe place where benders could train, with padded ceilings and walls, and a soft ground for the earthbenders. There were faucets for the waterbenders, and a pit filled with cold rainwater that led outside.  
As i got closer, i recognised a whipping sound, probably water since Katara had told me she was practicing her whips.  
To my surprise, it wasn’t Katara bending when I opened the door, but Mark, the exchange student. He didn’t notice me right away, so he continued bending. He had a good routine, impressive with even double bending, forming raining down water into little ice droplets.  
When he was done and put the water back in the pit, I clapped. I think I startled him, because he turned around quickly.  
“Sorry, I thought it was Katara.” He obviously didn’t mean to be watched while bending.  
“I love your routine,'' I continued. I always felt a need to fill in weird silences, and even though i was getting better with them, i still felt like i should apologise to this stranger.  
“I didn’t know waterbenders lived on the earth Islands.” I waved my hand around awkwardly.  
“My mother is from the Southern watertribe, my dad was an airbender.” It was only now that I noticed he had taken his sweater off and was wearing a dark t-shirt under it. It looked good. “They were looking to live on neutral grounds.” He shrugged, then continued. “My dad is gone now, but my mother stayed.”  
“I’m sorry.” I felt bad for asking about it right away. Mark waved to indicate it wasn’t important.  
“So, you saved me from the bully, Jet? Thanks.” I shook my head.  
“No, that was Aang, sorry.” He grimaced.  
“No it wasn’t, he was just as surprised as i was.” Fuck.  
“Well, uhh.. i-”  
“You’re the Avatar.” it wasn’t a question, it wasn’t a big reveal. It was simply a statement, a fact, like; the sky is blue. I nodded.  
“To be fair, I only just found out.” He huffed, then smiled brightly.  
“So why are you here?” I raised my eyebrow. So smart, yet so oblivious.  
“To train, i always train with Zuko on tuesdays.” He snapped his fingers and smiled.  
“Oh right, okay uh...i’m dumb sorry.”  
“Not dumb, clearly.” I folded my arms and gave my best smile. “It happens to the best of us” I finished.  
“So, can you show me your firebending? I never saw it done before.” I felt that nervous feeling bubble up again, but without the sickness this time. I nodded and put my bag aside.  
I concentrated on the constant feeling of warmth and extended it. I moved my arms above my head in a fluid motion, shifting my stance, and letting my right foot balance all my weight. Then, I jumped just high enough for me to be able to land on both feet, wide stance and pulled my arm back to create the final flame.  
It was a short routine, but I wasn't in the mood for anything elaborate. I stood up normally again, and wiped my hands out of automatism.  
“How’s that?”  
Mark seemed to like it, he clapped and smiled.  
“Great!”  
I smiled sheepishly, compliments were never my strong suit.  
“Do you want to battle? Nothing too dangerous, just for fun?”  
At school the training ground was safe, and there were always medical kits around to help with anything needing immediate attention. So i agreed.  
“Do you mind if i put a song on then? Music helps me stay on a rhythm and yeah...it just helps.” I felt a little weird asking him, but I performed much better when I had a beat to follow. Mark just nodded.  
Connecting my phone to the speakers that the airbenders could use to impress their opponents, i started playing “Electric love” as it was a song with an easier beat that hopefully wouldn’t disturb Mark’s bending too much.  
So Mark started, pushing a wave my way, cutting through the air and missing me by a hair length. I retaliated, whipping a flame just above his head. 

Baby, you’re like lightning in a bottle

Mark ran up my way, sending large droplets my way, with sharp points. By rolling I dodged them, except one, hitting me in the elbow, just a split second before I evaporated it.  
His expression changed for one second, flashing a short look of worry.  
I grinned. 

All i need is to be struck by your electric love

I breathed in deeply, feeling small sparks at my fingertips ignite, and jumping as high as I could to aim better. I could feel the air around me simmering with heat, and my vision was slightly moving due to the heat of the flames giving me an extra push up, and those coming from my hands, as i whipped them up, and let them circle around Mark, but before i could finish the move, he lashed out with his bending, creating a smaller circle around himself, and extinguishing my flames. Completing that motion, he trapped me in his water, and restrained my bending.  
I nodded, in recognition as to when I was beaten. He drew away the water, and somehow dried my clothes as well. He then shook my hand, and smiled.  
“Fire loves you.” He simply commented. As if it was that easy. To a waterbender it might be of course.  
The heavy metal doors opened, and squeeked loudly. I’d stopped using them because of that, they were ruined when Toph invented metalbending.  
Katara, Zuko and Aang appeared. They looked from Mark to me, back to Mark and back to me.  
“Do you need a moment?” Aang asked. I shook my head, and they all walked in.  
“Toph couldn’t make it, her parents.” Zuko said. Everyone in the group knew what that meant. Her parents didn’t want to see how brilliant and strong their daughter was, and therefore denied her to do pretty much anything besides school.  
Mark looked between all of us before speaking.  
“So, if you ever want a rematch, here’s my number.” He took a pen out of his back pocket, and wrote it on my hand.  
“I’ve got to go but i’ll see you around?” He asked while collecting his things. I nodded and smiled.  
“Sure.” As Mark waved his goodbye, Katara turned to me.  
“He’s cute.” I turned to look at her like she offended me.  
“Why is that your first thought? You’re a married woman for christ’s sake!” I feigned disappointment, dramatically putting the back of my hand on my forehead. Aang laughed behind us.  
“Well, he’s not for me. Besides, he seems to like you the most.” She raised an eyebrow. I shrugged. “I don’t know if he’s even into nonbinary, autistic and asexual teens that just found out they are the Avatar.”  
“Well, if he is, he is into you for sure.” Zuko quipped.  
Aang threw a ball at me, and I could catch it in one hand, as it was pretty small.  
“You’ve got firebending down, let’s work on your airbending next.” I looked around  
“Wait where is Bumi?” A cackle could be heard from the darkness.  
“I’m here, let’s start you turtleducks!” he sat down on the sidelines, relatively protected as i trusted him to be able to defend himself as well. I just nodded. He’d probably been there for a while already, and if i was unlucky he’d spread rumours about Mark and i. But once he’s set his mind on something you can’t change it, so i decided to let it slide to spare myself some time.  
“Okay” Aang cracked his knuckles. “Be careful, be patient, i believe in you.” He smiled brightly and gave me a thumbs up. I felt the weight of the ball in my hand, and carefully threw it up, catching it again, and throwing it up again. I concentrated on the falling, the rising of it, and stretched out my palm on the seventh try. I didn’t feel the ball hitting my hand, so I dared to look at the ball, and low and behold, it was floating in the air, about ten centimeters from my hand. I smiled at Aang.  
I still had a long way to go, but it was a start. 

~~another time skip, because i said i could~~

When i came home, my mother was waiting, sitting on the couch and looking at me when i came in through the back door.  
“Your teacher mr. Bumi called.” I nodded, and sat down in front of her.  
“He says you’re the Avatar.” Her voice broke a bit. Her posture was stiff, too perfect to have a normal conversation, too perfect even to be meant as casually. I nodded again.  
“i’m sorry.” She broke down, and the perfect postured woman was gone, she hunched over, and hid her face in her hands.  
I slowly sat down beside her, rubbing her shoulder with one hand. I felt a little stupid and sheepish. I’d never seen her cry like this before. My mother cried in the same way I did, silently, and in defiance of every tear. I’d seen her cry twice before, and both times she just sat there, keeping a hard, cold face and looking at the little tear stain like it had wronged her and all her family.  
“I knew.” She eventually said, in between sobs.  
“I’ve known since you were little and could barely walk.” I nodded, as I suspected she wasn’t really talking to me as much as about me. She didn’t look at me, but straight ahead, to the wall where we placed a shelf.  
“You came up to me, you could barely even walk.” She motioned with her hands, vaguely indicating my height at the time.  
“You told me; mama, I learned how to fly, now i don’t have to walk!” I kept rubbing her shoulder, seeing the scenario play out in my head. Me, on my chubby little legs, stumbling towards my mother, and hanging onto her legs excitedly. She continued.  
“You airbended for the first time as to my knowledge that day.” She swallowed, and a sob escaped her.  
“A week later, you showed me your earthbending when you saved an ant from getting lost, lifting the ground it was in, and bringing it back to its colony in the backyard.”  
She finally turned to look at me, a melancholy expression on her face as she tugged on my shirt, and hid her face in my neck.  
“I am so sorry.” I patted her on her back, closing my eyes and focusing on the feeling of the hug, the familiar smell of her perfume, and the tickle of her curly hair in my face. I felt safe.  
“it’s okay mama.” She sobbed.  
“I was so scared they would take you away, and I would never see you again.”  
She clutched me impossibly tighter.  
“It’s okay mama, i’m glad i’m here.” I felt tears pricking in the corner of my eye, and briefly wondered if I could waterbend with them.  
“I already called the hotline.” Her voice seemed more steady now.  
“I told them that you’re staying here, and learning here and not in some glorified prison.”  
I sighed deeply. “Thank you mama.”  
We stayed like that until my father found us. He asked for my attention, and looked at me. He looked sad, as if he’d lost me. Maybe I remind him of himself. We were the two who looked the most alike, and our eyes were the same. Maybe, when he looked at me, he saw himself. I nodded.  
“Mama told me.” I simply said, hoping he’d heard the news. He dropped to his knees and hugged me as well. I could feel his scruffy beard, and his strong shoulders. And they felt like home.  
“I love you so much.” he whispered.  
“I would move heaven and earth for you.” He finished. 

~~whoop pretty emotional right? time for a time skip~~

Fucking alarm clocks, always fucking waking me up, i didn’t ask for this shit damnit.  
Well i mean, i set the alarm but that’s beside the point.  
And why, pray tell, did i put my alarm on the other. Fucking. Side. Of. The. Goddamn. Room.  
The air was shivering cold, and I could feel my toes freezing the moment it stepped on the floor. Why was winter like this?  
I blew into my hands, trying to heat them up and put some extra fire into my breath.  
When I swung my bag over my shoulder, I realised that there was a certain warmth coming from the hallway. And when I stepped outside I found that every other part of the house was at an adequate temperature, only my room had practically frozen over.  
Odd.  
Carefully lighting a flame in my hand, I blew it into the room to start thawing the ice on my walls. It wasn’t a thick layer, but it made my blue wall lighter, and covered every part of my desk, including the random homework books on it.  
Then I finally went downstairs, and opened the door to the living room to an empty abyss.  
The abyss had eyes.  
Her name is Fluffy, and I love her more than life itself.  
Fluffy is entirely black, and has the softest, most pettable fur ever. If you can get close enough to her to pet her anyway.  
Fluffy reminds me of the night, which i like. Sometimes, you look into the night, and in my house, she looks back.  
When I flicked on the light, I could finally see the whole of her. She looked at me to follow her, as she often does in the morning, cats are creatures that love habits after all.  
After she had her food and went downstairs, she went outside. As cats often do.  
I made myself coffee to stay awake and took some bread out of the freezer.  
You’d think i’d learn, but it had become a personal tradition to try and make toast with my bending. Maybe this time it would work though. I put the bread up, as straight as i could, and blew at it with one big flame, surrounding it, and hopefully toasting it.  
But, once again I failed my morning quest. 

After breakfast, I texted Mark. 

“Hey, it’s Celsius, how are you?” 

I shut off my phone and went to brush my teeth. I was almost out the door when my phone buzzed. 

“I am okay. Glad to hear you’re okay as well.” 

“I gtg, i’ll see you at school.” 

With a soft click, I turned off my phone and slid it into my pocket. 

~~Another time skip because uhhhhhhh~~

The air outside became colder with the day, and winter was closer every second. But inside the air was comfortable, and it became too hot to wear a jacket.  
Shedding it, I put it away, making sure all my pockets were empty.  
The first bell rang.  
My classroom was not very far from my locker and the coat hangers.  
I had English the first hour, with Pakku. No one really liked Pakku a lot, but with no other option as a teacher, people seemed to tolerate him.  
Pakku married Sokka and Katara’s grandmother, though I am pretty sure she married him not out of love, but for the fact he could care financially for her grandkids.  
He was an asshole.  
But I wouldn't have to suffer alone, I had this class with Toph and Aang. The tables were put in little groups, an effort on Pakku’s part perhaps to seperate the boys and girls.  
I never understood that kind of thing, boys against girls. It was only when i found out i am nonbinary that i understood where that feeling came from.  
I was one of the first to arrive in the room, claiming our usual spot by the window, a three person group. Not long after, a scraping chair caught my attention. I looked up to see Toph sitting down pretty easily despite her lack of sight. But that was Toph for you, she can do pretty much anything. Aang joined us, and Pakku immediately asked for the attention of the class.  
“Dear class, today we will not be working on our essays-” A cheer interrupted him. He motioned for the class to be calm.  
“Instead, we will be learning about the Dai Li.” Murmuring around the class started to rise. The Dai Li were rumoured to be a powerful organisation, but no one could come up with a reason to talk about it. Pakku turned towards the board.  
“The Dai Li are tasked with finding the Avatar, and imprisoning him or her.” He turned around sharply and gave me a look that seemed to burn into my retinas. I felt heat rise in me. Misgendering is one thing, but a teacher misgendering someone on purpose to make them feel unsafe? Unbelievable. But before I could open my mouth, Pakku turned towards the rest of the class and continued.  
“The Dai Li will lock up the Avatar and prepare him or her for the world and the responsibilities that come with it. Now, the reason i am talking about this is that i am announcing my leave.” The quiet that had previously settled in the class started up again. Pakku leaving seemed like a blessing to most. One person raised their hand.  
“Why are you leaving then?” Pakku gave a smile that sent chills up my back.  
“I have been asked personally by the Dai Li to help capture the Avatar and train them in waterbending, to put them under the right control, so to speak.” Another toxic look my way. Short enough to be mistaken for scanning the room for reactions, but just lingering enough to feel like a personal attack.  
New travels fast in this school and if one other student caught wind it could ruin my life forever. No protest or reluctance would stop them. The heat in my chest became worse.  
I put my hand up.  
“So do you think you can find the Avatar, sir?” I tried to put as much sarcasm and due disrespect in the sentence, and it obviously stung to Pakku.  
“Well, yes. Of course i would.” he seemed to splutter for a bit before catching himself.  
“It is my duty to whip the Avatar into shape and teach waterbending to her -or him.” he seemed to add as an afterthought. I raised my hand again. He nodded curtly.  
“Can i go to the bathroom? It is my time of the month.” It wasn’t, but he’s not going to check. As predicted, Pakku went pale, then red. He was always squamish when it came to blood or human bodies that didn’t have a ding dong attached to them. He nodded and I all but rushed out of the room, sneaking my phone with me on the way out.  
I walked down the empty hallway, trying to dodge the potential stares from other classes.  
When I finally reached the boiler room, it had been too long to be convincing already, but who cares right? What’s he gonna do? Expel me? The boiler room was too cold usually, but it was doable this time of year, and it was the most private place one could be in the school. Excluding the bathrooms of course, but there were no gender neutral bathrooms so this was my best option. Crouching down behind the biggest boiler, I hugged my arms. Fucking Pakku, out of all humans on this godforsaken planet! I felt so stupid for wanting to cry. a dry sob escaped my chest, when my phone buzzed. 

“My class is boring, what do you have rn?” It was Mark. I was out of balance right away, wanting to shift to friendly conversation but still feeling horrible.  
“English, but i’m hiding from Pakku.” A minute went by.  
“Yes, he didn’t seem too nice to me.”  
“He’s an asshole.”  
“What happened?”  
“He does this all the time, don't worry. He misgenders me.” I nervously peeled some skin off my lip with my teeth. Then I typed a follow up question.  
“He also knows I am the Avatar, and he threatens to imprison the Avatar.”  
“Oh damn.” Came the almost instant reply.  
“Can you tell anyone?” He seemed concerned.  
“I could try and tell the Headmaster, but i have another class after this.” I sighed, sharing this with someone else felt lighter already.  
‘What do you have?”  
“Economics with Jeong Jeong.”  
“I can come with you to the Headmaster if you’d like?” I sighed with relief. He still was a mystery, but at least he’s compassionate.  
“Thank you.”  
“See you :))” He texted without animated emojis, that’s kinda fun.  
I opened Toph’s chat with me.  
“Can you please drop off my bag under the grey stairs? I’m in the boiler room.”  
I clicked my phone off again, muting it in the process. 

The hour went by quicker than i thought it would, and i soon got a text from Toph; mission accomplished.  
I picked up my bag from under the stairs where she indeed left them, and made my way up the right wing to my economics class. Not far from the classroom, my arm got swept by an unfamiliar figure. When I looked aside, I saw it was Mark.  
“We are skipping today.” He fiddled a bit with his free hand, but he obviously tried to look confident.  
“But what about economics?” I half heartedly protested. I didn’t feel like going to class, but my parents would be mad if I skipped.  
“I took care of it, don’t worry.” He tugged me by my hand down the stairs and out the front door. No one noticed us in the mass of people despite us being taller than the average student.  
he dragged me about a block away before turning to me.  
“So, where do you live and are your parents home?” He looked smaller, more insecure somehow. I wanted to hug him and protect him forever.  
“This way.” I said instead. I unlocked my bike, and Marc took my backpack from me, holding one on each leg as he carefully balanced himself on the back of my bike.  
I leaned up, throwing my weight in and we rode out of the street soon enough. It was odd, honestly. I had only met this boy twice before, but I trusted him with anything, I would give him my life if he asked for it. I smiled to myself. 

~~yay i figured that out; also small time skip here~~

The curtains in the study room were open, and I could spot my dad behind his computer. I left my bike on the sidewalk, making sure to lock it. Marc was ahead of me, motioning for the keys and waving his hands around nervously.  
I unlocked the door, and let us both in.  
“Now will you tell me what we are doing?” I whispered. Mark shrugged.  
“I was thinking we could hide and get your friend to teach you the elements, then Paku won’t bother you!” He then seemed to almost flinch.  
“it’s a stupid idea, i’m sorry.”  
I patted him on the shoulder.  
“No, i like it. Where are we hiding?” He smiled shyly, obviously trying to not show his braces.  
“In the school, they’ll never look for you there.” Clever, of course they wouldn’t look for me there after we skipped class!  
“What do we need?” My heart pounced in my chest, adrenaline seeping into my veins. My face must have been looking weirdly excited about being threatened with imprisonment, but I didn't mind all that much. Mark began naming things we’d need while i typed them down on my phone.  
After an hour of sneaking around my house we had a bag full of our things.  
We had an alarm clock, headphones and chargers, food, sleeping bags and pillows, payamas, and toothbrushes as well as shampoo.  
It wasn’t a lot, but if I trained enough per day, it should last.  
Satisfied, we zipped the bag up, and I carried it to the bike, Marc carrying both our school backpacks.  
When we arrived at school, we luckily weren’t caught again, and the janitor’s was empty. I took a quick detour and picked one of the keys off the wall, hoping it could open enough doors to find a place to stay for the night. I pocketed the key just in time, and turned the corner before some student coming out of the bathroom could see me. 

We tried every door, and even though the empty classrooms wouldn’t open, eventually a mostly empty storage room did. it was big enough to fit us, and also give us some moving space and it would be almost airy if we cleared out the stuff on the ground. There was a heating, and with mutual understanding, we decided on our home base for the oncoming time. After we both rolled out our sleeping bags, head under the heating, I sighed.  
“So this is it? Don’t get me wrong but i miss my bed already.” Mark nodded.  
“Me too, but hopefully this won’t be for long.”  
I flopped back on my makeshift bed. I was bored already.  
Indeed, I couldn't hold my boredom at bay for long.  
“Mark?”  
“hm?”  
“Do you have siblings?” It seemed like a random question, but I was genuinely curious since I knew nothing of him.  
“Yes, and i also have a dog.”  
“What’s their name?”  
“My sibling or the dog?”  
“Uh, the dog?”  
“Oliver.”  
“That’s a good name for a dog. Kinda like John Oliver.” Mark shrugged.  
“I guess.”  
“And what about you? The only thing I know about you is your name and that you’re the Avatar who was nice to me once.” I grinned.  
“yeah, what’s up with that? I showed you human decency once, and now i’m stuck with you?”  
“Yup.” He popped the P, hard to do because of his british accent, but he somehow managed it. He then looked over, and with the slightest hint of insecurity in his voice, he asked; “Is that bad?” I was taken aback, he’d given up school to help me after all.  
“No? Why would it be?”  
“Just...something about the way you said it i guess.” he shrugged with his hands under his head.  
“i’m not stuck here with you at all!” I weighed the silence for a second.  
“You’re stuck here with me.” I elbowed him. He grinned.  
“Don’t say that you seem nice!”  
“Thanks Mark.”  
Another silence fell. I’ve never been good at them, so my mind started to wander pretty quickly. After about five minutes I broke the silence again.  
“Mark?”  
“yes?”  
“What is your favourite flower?”  
“Hm, i never really thought about it to be honest.”  
“Mine are poppies, they are a nice colour and they grow anywhere.”  
“really?”  
“Yes, during the early industrial wars, people could see them from the trenches.”  
“I didn’t know that.”  
“They are a symbol of hope, plus they are pretty as fuck.”  
“what else do you like?” I stayed silent for a second, trying to come up with an answer that made sense.  
“I really like art. Just music, painting and drawing.”  
“That’s cool, i like hockey.”  
“What position do you play?” I didn’t actually know anything about hockey, but it’s often nice to just have people talk about their interests.  
“I play defense, usually I'm a goalie.”  
“Ice hockey or…?”  
“no, just normal.”  
“Sorry, because you’re a waterbender, I thought- uh.” I felt so embarrassed. I hid my face in my hands and avoided his gaze.  
“That’s okay.” I could hear the smile and relaxation in his voice.  
I sighed and took my hands back to my waist.  
“What else do you like?”  
“I like sewing, i know that’s probably weird but-”  
“Nonono! I think that’s great!” I lifted my body up higher. Mark smiled at me.  
“I love sewing too!” I finished. Then he smiled brighter, and I could feel rising heat in my chest. I must look ridiculous, but the whole situation was ridiculous.  
“What else do you enjoy?” I asked, while I laid down on my makeshift bed again, staring at the ceiling.  
“I like sailing. As a waterbender I guess it’s in my nature.” I smiled. I had been right about waterbenders being attracted to water naturally.  
“Does that mean you know sea shanties?” I asked instead.  
“Some, yes, why?” I didn’t answer, just took a deep breath and did my darnest best to hold a deep tone and volume.  
“Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum.” i sounded decent, but that could have been my mind playing tricks. To my delight, Mark set in the next part, singing it in unison with me.  
“One day, when the tang is in his tongue, we’ll take our leave and go.” We weren’t harmonised, but it sounded okay.  
“The line was cut, the whale was free, and the captain’s mind was not on greed, but he belonged to the whale man’s creed, she took that ship and sooo..” I took a deep breath, wanting to finish the song with the next line;  
“Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum!”  
We both laughed for a bit, delighted to have found someone who indulged in sea shanties as well.  
“What else do you listen to?” It was the first time in a bit that Mark asked me something.  
“I really like ‘Come down Achilles’ by Gang of Youth, what about you?”  
“i love EDEN’s music.”  
“Oh, i’ve heard of that! My favourite is XO.” Sex is also a good song, but XO tops the charts for me.  
“Hey! That’s mine too!”  
I smiled. I had a warm feeling in my chest again, rising up toward my face.  
A knock on the door. I could feel my skin grow cold, and all my hairs standing up straight. The ground seemed to disappear, and I felt like I was falling. I didn’t notice I was clenching my muscles and my jaw until Mark opened the door to reveal Toph and Katara. I felt myself relax right away.  
“Scoot over nerds, we are joining the pity party!” Toph unceremoniously plopped down, opening her bag, which was filled with a blanket and a roll-out mattress.  
“She’s right, you honestly think we’d have both of you have all the fun?” Katara sat down on a spare stool, opening her bag as well.  
“How do you know about this plan?” I thought I'd be at school perfecting my waterbending in secret with Marc.  
“Marc texted Aang to have another element to study for you, and he called Toph, so of course we are going to tag along! Sokka is getting food at gran-gran’s.” She pointed at the door with her thumb. Right at that moment, as if he had been waiting outside, Sokka burst in.  
“Hey people! Bet’cha missed me!” His smile was bright, but I couldn't help my next comment.  
“yeah, like a broken leg.” Sokka scoffed, then continued unfazed: “So, we have some time on our hands, what do you say we build a fort?” Katara raised her eyebrows and looked at him.  
“A fort? Why?”  
“Because we can!” Sokka raised his hand in excitement. I nodded.  
“Love it! Mark, can you get that orange stuff right there? We can use that as a roof!” He nodded and got up to grab the thing. I stood up as well, grabbing an abandoned gym pole that was missing it’s rubber bottom, lifting it would create a horrid noise, so I rolled it onto the side, and steered to the middle of the room.  
“This can be our tent pole!” Sokka got up as well, buzzing around excitedly. After about a minute he stood on his tippy toes to fetch a box from a shelf. He barely caught it when he managed to get it to fall down. When he held it I could see why he wanted it. The box had a label ‘Christmas lights’ and it did, indeed have several strands of lights.  
“I found our light!” Katara gave her a strange look, but still scanned the room. until she found something that seemingly caught her attention. Walking over, she opened a bottle she brought and bended for the water to raise her up. She picked something off the top shelf, and with a wave of her hand, she was back on the floor, completely unharmed.  
“Show Off.” Sokka scowled and crossed his arms. Mark grinned. Katara didn’t react, instead she raised the box.  
“I found spare blankets...for some reason.” She seemed confused as to why a school needed blankets at all. So was i, but it worked in our favour so i wasn’t about to complain.  
“Great! What are we waiting for?” Toph grabbed the orange sail Mark put down.  
Not long after, we had a relatively nicely set up camp. We piled all the sleeping mats and blankets under the ‘tent’ to combine our body heat, but also for fun.  
All in all, it seemed pretty cozy, so when Aang arrived, he added his sleeping bag after zipping it open, and we all shuffled into our camp. Suki was on her way here too, after Mark had shyly asked if she could come along.  
Aang had taken to braiding Katara’s hair, while she sat cross legged on the floor. Sokka was sketching out something in his notepad, Mark was on his phone, probably making sure Suki was okay, and Toph was shuffling cards around, despite obviously not being able to see them. It had caused some cards to be put upside down into the not very neat deck, but as of some miracle, she hadn’t missed one yet. She was claiming to want to learn how to cheat at poker, but i think she just liked the routine of the shuffle. Zuko opened the door carefully, as to not disturb us, and sat down next to Toph. I was glad he joined us, as a fellow firebender and one of my closest friends, I was always happy to see him.  
“So how about that Jet guy?” Mark seemed to ask, almost as if he hadn’t meant to say it out loud.  
“He’s an asshole, what about him?” Zuko questioned, while raising an eyebrow towards Mark. Toph put her cards in her pocket and laid back to talk to Mark as well.  
“I mean, what’s his problem with benders?” Mark shrugged, trying to be nonchalant.  
“Yeah, it’s this weird fascination thing, right?” I sat up straighter and crossed my legs.  
“Maybe he’s just insecure?” Katara didn’t even look up but her opinion made sense.  
“Because he can’t bend?” Toph cut in. “That’s bullshit, non benders are just as valid as all the benders.” Sokka added, almost aggressively. I nodded in agreement. Aang just sighed, always the silent voice of reason. Unless it involved himself of course. If I were to be Avatar, I would have to be more like him. I shook my head, as if to erase the thought like an etch-a-sketch.  
“We should just leave him alone, I think, there’s enough going on already.” I raised my knees higher. Truth was, I wasn't sure of myself. What if I could never master the elements? What if the Dai Li found me and imprisoned me? I was reminded of why we were hiding in the first place, to preserve my freedom. I hugged my knees, trying to be inconspicuous about it.  
The others seemed to have noticed the shift in my mood, because Zuko started a new conversation right away.  
I wasn’t really listening, but I heard someone come in and voices shushing as I drifted off to sleep. 

~~Time skip till tomorrow morning!~~

Toph was a harsh teacher, this much i learned today. if i learned anything about bending was questionable. I did manage to lift some basic stuff, but nothing too big. The biggest I had managed was a block of dirt that launched a gym ball into a small bump. At least i had picked up on earthbending though, waterbending came to me as naturally as flying could come to a snake. Mark was patient though, and Katara seemed determined to make me understand the basis behind waterbending. Sokka had ‘gone hunting’ and come back with a sandwich he’d stolen from the cafeteria around lunchtime, when Aang came into the room. He was red, and short of breath. After a second of coughing and deep breaths, he pointed at the door and looked straight at me.  
“The Dai Li are here!” I felt that fear again. Not the casual fear that raises your awareness and keeps you on edge, but a crippling fear that settled deep into my gut. My spine went cold, while my chest became hotter. The large practice area became too small in an instant. I was only vaguely aware of Katara pushing me behind a sliding door, just before the main door to the practice hall opened. I could hear a lot of men in heavy boots run in, beginning to open every door, and pushing my friends aside without so much as a word. That, however, was not the biggest problem at that moment. The Dai Li came closer to my door while checking all the storage rooms around the training platform.  
My breath stilled, I could hear the footsteps coming closer. The question of how they knew I was there only briefly crossed my mind before the siding door was opened, and I could see the heavy boots of a Dai Li agent as I hid behind a training obstacle. My heart pounded in my chest when he came closer. He was checking the doors on the side, and behind all the obstacles, one by one. Then, he checked mine. A split second went by where the agent looked at me, with a stunned expression on his face, while I locked eyes with him. Then, I felt a strong hand pull me away and I stumbled behind my arm, which was being dragged outside. After I caught up with my own weight, I found myself being looked at from all sides, including up front, where Pakku stood with his chin raised and arms crossed. His very being had a flair of arrogance. It turned my stomach, and made my scowl. The Dai Li agent must have heard me, because he briefly looked at me, then brought me before Pakku.  
“Is this the Avatar?” He pointed at me as well, as if it wasn’t clear who he meant otherwise. Idiot. Pakku just grinned and nodded.  
“She is the Avatar! Bring her to the wagon, we have to move quickly before the Headmaster notices we are here.” He added the last sentence more silently, almost whispering to the agent that was holding me. That sentence changed my situation and so did my mindset. I gave the hardest kick I could towards the shins of the agent. He cried out in pain and let me go out of reflex. I ran away immediately. I could hear people yelling behind me as I made my way through the halls. I ran up the stairs, to where I knew the headmaster's office to be. Luckily it wasn’t locked when I came there, and I quickly rushed in. When I took a second to take in my surroundings, I saw the Headmaster sitting behind his desk, his chair turned away from it and his husband in his lap. Oh fuck. Jeong Jeong quickly got off Piandao, and coughed awkwardly, his face turning red. I could feel the heat rising on my face as well, but to be fair they should have locked the door. I hid my face in my hands and groaned. It was more out of instinct than actual disgust. They were two of my favourite teachers, but there is a place and a time for things like that. I could hear the chair turning back, before Piandao awkwardly called to my attention.  
“Celsius, uhm, what do you need?” He looked perfectly fine, not as if his husband hadn’t been in his lap seconds ago.  
“The Dai Li is here, and they are after me, and Pakku is with them, and they are going to hurt my friends and-”  
“Why is the Dai Li after you?” Jeong Jeong cut me off, and raised his hand to indicate I should calm down. I could mentally slap myself, they had no idea!  
“I am the Avatar.” I fiddled with my fingers, closing my fists into each other and then letting go. The silence in the room was saying a thousand words.  
“Very well, and they want to put you away, I presume?” The headmaster said, calmly. I nodded. Piandao just nodded, as he stood up from his chair. He sighed deeply again.  
“I will deal with them, but you better call your parents. This is not going to end well unless you have a lawyer that can argue your case before a jury. The Dai Li generally don’t take no for an answer.” he bent his knees, coming down to my eye level, and putting his hand on my shoulder.  
“Trust me, when i say i will do everything i can to get you home safely. But i cannot promise you your freedom.” Jeong jeong opened his mouth, seemingly to speak as well, but was interrupted by a heavy banging on the door. It swung open to reveal a handful of Dai Li agents. They stormed toward me, but Piandao grabbed his sword off the wall - i assumed before that it was only a souvenir and served as decoration, but clearly i was wrong- and put himself between them and me.  
“I will not let you take my student.” His voice was calm, even though his stance was ready to fight, pointing the sword at the agents. Jeong jeong stood next to his husband, i now noticed, and held his hands up, ready to bend if necessary.  
“Celsius has rights, and you have no authority to take those away from them!” The agents seemed taken back by this unexpected resistance. One of them ran off, presumably to find a superior.  
“You will let them return home, and may I remind you that you are on school property. Do you have a license to enter this space?” His tone wasn’t questioning, despite the sentence being a question. At this moment, the agent that left came back, with Pakku in tow.  
“Pakku! You have no right to be here, take your agents and leave!” Piandao raised his voice and somehow kept it calm. Pakku didn’t respond, instead tapping nodding to his agents and leaving. When they were all out of hearing range, I relaxed.  
“Call your parents.” And with that, they both left me alone in the office.  
I took a deep breath, trying to calm the adrenaline that had been rising steadily. My hands were trembling, and my back felt cold. I hugged my chest, and only now noticed I was rocking myself back and forth.  
i only noticed the other person in the room when a cup of water was carefully set down on the desk next to me, as i was maneuvered into a spare chair. Mark handed me the cup, and I carefully sipped the cold water.  
“Are you okay?” He spoke so softly, I barely heard him. I nodded, and shrugged. It might not have been a very verbal answer, but I couldn't muster more.  
“I can go get your stuff if you want? So you can call your parents?” I nodded again. I could hear him walking down the hallway, and I took a few moments to calm myself, and before I knew it he was back.  
I dialed up the contact easily, and pressed the call button right away. The phone rang twice, and then my mother picked up.  
“Celsius? What’s wrong?” I sighed. Better to let it all out right away.  
“The Dai Li are here, they want to take me, but the Headmaster won’t let them. I don’t know what to do mamma.” A short silence, some muffled noises and shuffling.  
“I am on my way.”  
Pakku and Piandao came back into the room. Pakku with a cold icy stare, and Piandao seemed down, somehow.  
“You’re allowed to make your case in the capitol tomorrow. Until then, you can’t leave.”  
Pakku undercut him; “We have a warrant for your house, but we cannot get one for this damned school! But you set one foot over the legal line and we’ve got you!”  
Pakku left the room, obviously trying to make himself look more dramatic.  
“I’m sorry. He’s right. The jury will see you tomorrow at 3 pm.” I nodded. Trying to process all of this was tough, but I kept my head up.  
My parents arrived about half an hour later, and helped me prepare my statement for the judge.  
The day went by in a daze, drafting and re-reading a statement to speak before the eyes of a nation, before falling asleep on a couch in the teacher’s room. Eventually, I had a completed statement, written and approved by my lawyer, hoping to get me my freedom.  
The car ride to the court was nothing short of torture. My leg bounced uncontrollably on the way there, and the stance was high up, facing the judge up front.  
Unsurprisingly, pakku was the attacker, and had his say first. His point mostly went past me, except for the part where he argued that he should be responsible for training me. I rolled my eyes at that part. I don’t think he noticed but it was worth the effort.  
The judge called out my name, luckily the right one, opposed to Pakku, who insisted on using my deadname.  
My legs were surprisingly steady as I took the stand, leaning into the microphone, I spoke. 

“My name is Celsius. I am the Avatar. But I am also a human. I have rights, and I have needs. How believable is the concept that the government can be expected to provide for an autistic Avatar? May I remind you that every other Avatar has been allowed to learn on their own time, no matter the timing of their ‘discovery’? And what is the point of isolating the Avatar when there is a world filled with learning experiences out there? I say that this policy is horrid, and i call upon my human right of freedom, and that no one can take my human rights from me! After all, is the first human right not that we are all born equal and free? And according to number 6 and 7, the law must protect my rights, and I have rights wherever I go. That includes this courtroom. And according to nr. 13 i have the right to wherever i want. I have the right to freedom, and to a fair world. This is all part of an agreement that this country agreed on. And in a day and age where we are so called ‘progressive’, why are my human right being taken away? Because i am transgender, because i am asexual? No. This was not a question until it was revealed that I am the Avatar. Being the Avatar does not take away my rights, and it does not take away my ability to think for myself. This is my case, thank you for your time dear jury, judge and other attendees.”

It had gone by in a rush that I barely registered the applause when I finished. That could have gone worse, I supposed as I sat back down. The jury went to deliberate and I went to get hot chocolate from the machine. Coffee would certainly be an option, if my legs hadn’t been shaking constantly. I tried to blend into the background of the hallway, and I seemed successful.  
I spotted Mark across the room, and he walked over to me.  
“So, how are you feeling?” He was also holding a cardboard cup with hot chocolate.  
“I think I did okay, I hope they take me seriously.” Mark nodded understandingly.  
“I wanted-” The bell indicating that the jury was done rang, and the crowd made their way into the room again.  
“Has the jury reached a verdict?” The judge had raised her voice. One jury member stood up.  
“Yes your Honour, we believe in the institutional right of personal and humanitarian freedom, therefore we pronounce that Celsius must not be allowed to live under the jurisdiction of the Dai Li.” The judge gave an approving smile, and turned towards the prosecution.  
“I second this, Avatar Celsius may continue their training as they see fit.”  
It felt almost unreal, walking out of the courtroom free. I had fully expected to be brought out in handcuffs. My parents were the first to congratulate and hug me. Then the headmaster and his husband also offered me their congratulations. When i was just about done with that shit, i -quite literally- bumped into Mark, spilling both our drinks.  
“Mark, i am so sorry!” He just smiled.  
“Since i ruined your hot chocolate, will you let me buy you a new one?” he grinned, and i felt a happy feeling bubble up, a feeling i had missed the last few hours.  
“Oh you smooth bastard.”  
“So do you have time for a date, yes or no?” I smiled.  
“For you? Anytime.”

EXTRA:   
https://youcantproveanything.tumblr.com/post/638317762083799041/this-is-a-fanart-for-my-bf-as-a-surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Leave and comment and make my day! I hope you all have a good Christmas and (hopefully) a good 2021!


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